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UPDATE (February 17):

The Baltimore County Police Department has identified the names of the officers involved in the shooting at MD Route 702 and Hyde Park Road in Essex on Saturday.

Officer Flaherty, a 10-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department assigned to Woodlawn/Precinct 2. Officer Flaherty was the officer injured during the incident.

Officer Beale, a 6-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department assigned to Woodlawn/Precinct 2.

Officer Wootan, a 7-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department assigned to Woodlawn/Precinct 2.

Officer Tubaya, a 10-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department assigned to the Special Operations Section.

Officer Trussell, a 3-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department assigned to Woodlawn/Precinct 2.

Officer Flanary, an 11-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department assigned to White Marsh/Precinct 9.

These officers will remain on administrative status during the investigation of this incident.

When detectives searched the suspect's vehicle, a 2003 Honda Pilot, they discovered four .38 caliber handguns, one 9 mm handgun, a shotgun, and a backpack containing ammunition for all of the weapons recovered. The 9mm handgun and one of the .38 caliber handguns were loaded.

This incident remains under investigation by the Baltimore County Police Homicide Unit. Detectives will work with investigators in Corbin, Kentucky to assist as needed with their death investigation.

No further information is available at this time.

UPDATE (February 15):

Baltimore County Police have identified the suspect in yesterday’s incident in Essex as 16-year-old Jason C Hendrix of the 1200 Block of Forrest Circle in Corbin, Kentucky.

No further information is available at this time.

UPDATE (February 14 9:33 p.m.):

The officer shot by a suspect following a pursuit along I-695 and ending on MD 702 has been released from the hospital.

The suspect in that pursuit, who was shot by officers and declared deceased at the scene, has not been positively identified at this time. Police believe he is a juvenile with connections to Corbin City, Kentucky.

As part of the investigation into this incident, Baltimore County detectives contacted police in Corbin City, Kentucky to check the address to which the Honda Pilot was registered. Corbin police subsequently began a death investigation involving multiple victims at that address. That investigation continues at this time. Baltimore County detectives are working with Corbin City law enforcement to determine the link between what happened in Kentucky and what happened in Baltimore County.

Original release (February 14 4:04 p.m.):

Late this morning, Maryland State Police pursued a Honda Pilot down I-95 after it failed to stop for a trooper. State Police broke off the pursuit around exit 47 when the vehicle drove across the median, across north-bound lanes, and exited the highway.

Baltimore County Police located the Honda Pilot in the Woodlawn area and attempted to stop it. When the vehicle failed to stop, officers pursued it onto east-bound I-695 and eventually onto route 702. At the intersection of route 702 and Hyde Park Road, the Honda Pilot struck a Honda Accord and stopped.

As officers approached the Honda Pilot, gunfire came from the vehicle, striking an officer. Officers then returned fire on the vehicle. The driver, an adult white male who was the only occupant of the vehicle, was declared deceased at the scene. The driver was found to have been armed with a handgun and other weapons.

The injured officer was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment. His ballistic vest stopped the round that struck him and he is expected to be released later today.

During this incident, six Baltimore County Police officers fired their weapons. Those officers will be placed on administrative status while the incident is reviewed.

An adult male and two 11-year-old females were in the Honda Accord that was struck by the Honda Pilot. They were not struck by gunfire and were taken to Franklin Square Hospital to be checked out. They are expected to be released shortly.

This incident is under investigation by the Baltimore County Police Homicide Unit.

A 10-year BCoPD veteran was charged late Thursday with attempted robbery and other crimes following a drug-related incident in Dundalk earlier this week.

Officer First Class Joseph Stanley Harden, 31, of the 700 block of York Road, 21204, has been released on $100,000 bail.

BCoPD suspended him with pay (including suspension of his police powers) immediately after Tuesday’s incident in Dundalk. He was arrested in Towson yesterday morning. Thursday night, he was suspended without pay after charges were filed.

Harden also is charged with attempted burglary, destruction of property and possession of CDS (not marijuana).

July 29 Incident

At about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a 911 call from a man who reported a burglary in progress in the 8200 block of Boundary Road, 21222. Specifically, the caller said someone claiming to be a police officer was trying to kick in his door.

The responding officers found no one at the home but saw an open rear window and a displaced window screen. Officers entered the apartment and found baggies containing what appeared to be marijuana.

Meanwhile, officers on N. Boundary Road pulled over a gray Toyota sedan traveling at a high rate of speed. The driver was Joseph Harden, who was wearing a gray shirt and his BCoPD badge around his neck. Soon after speaking with Harden, officers realized that Harden matched the description of a suspect given by witnesses who said they saw a man leaving the Boundary Road apartment.

Subsequent investigation included the execution of various search and seizure warrants and interviews with the 911 caller, a self-described drug dealer. The investigation showed that for several months Harden has been an associate of Stephen Singh Gomez, 25, of the 500 block of 47th St., 21224 – also a dealer and one of the victim’s customers. (Gomez also has been charged in this case.) Harden has purchased Oxycodone from Gomez several times over the past few months.

Gomez told police that on July 29 he purchased Oxycodone for Harden from the victim at the Boundary Road apartment, but that within an hour Harden requested more pills. The two returned to Boundary Road, and Harden attempted to force entry into the victim’s apartment. The victim told police that he fled in fear through the rear window.

Harden was arrested at his home Thursday morning. He admitted to his role in the N. Boundary Road incident and told police investigators that he is addicted to Oxycodone.

Chief Jim Johnson said that he is “deeply troubled by this officer’s actions. This department does not tolerate criminal conduct among its members, and this officer will face due process for what he has done. Yet we cannot help but be saddened by another troubling case of prescription medication abuse. This problem is pervasive in our society, and unfortunately no institution is immune to it. We hope that this officer and everyone struggling with addiction seeks and receives treatment.”

Background

Harden most recently was assigned to Precinct 8/Parkville, where he has been on modified duty as a result of injuries sustained in a June 2013 police-involved shooting at the Colony Motel on Pulaski Highway.

Harden – assigned to Precinct 11/Essex at the time – was one of three officers who struggled with a man who attempted to run over a woman with a motor scooter outside the motel. The suspect engaged the officers in a violent physical fight and succeeded in defeating one of the restraining devices that held one of the officer’s guns in her holster. As that officer screamed for help, and as the suspect tried to rip her gun from the holster, Harden fatally shot the suspect with his service weapon.

Like all police-involved shootings, this incident was reviewed by the Homicide Unit, a BCoPD internal shooting review board and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney. All three investigations found the shooting justified.

Following a months-long internal investigation of the actions of a volunteer auxiliary police officer in Towson, Police Chief Jim Johnson has decided that this auxiliary officer will not return to patrol duties.

The auxiliary officer, Matthew S. Betz, 44, who has volunteered for BCoPD for 22 years, will be allowed to continue to perform administrative work for the department. (Johnson restricted him to administrative duties immediately after the February 23 incident.) His arrest powers have been suspended, meaning he cannot work in the field as an auxiliary officer.

The investigation by the Internal Affairs Division involved a crowd disturbance in the 400 block of York Road at about 1:45 a.m. in which two women were arrested on charges of resisting arrest, disturbing the peace, second-degree assault and drug charges. The auxiliary officer was assisting on-duty BCoPD officers when he became involved with a college student who was filming the incident.

The internal investigation found that the auxiliary officer behaved inappropriately. “The language he used was incorrect, unnecessary and not helpful in bringing the incident to closure,” Chief Johnson said.

About the Auxiliary Program

BCoPD’s Auxiliary Police Officer program, established by the Baltimore County Code, currently includes 88 trained volunteers. The Code specifies the qualifications, conditions of service and scope of duties for auxiliary officers.

Volunteer auxiliary officers must complete about 115 hours of training in order to be certified by the Police Chief to assist BCoPD officers. They do not carry firearms. Under the Code, all certified auxiliary officers have extremely limited powers of arrest.

Chief Johnson will require enhanced re-training of all existing volunteer auxiliary officers that exceeds the training they currently receive yearly.

“These volunteers make a huge commitment to this department and to this County. They contribute thousands of dollars worth of manpower each year – an asset we value and want to preserve,” Chief Johnson said. “At the same time, this recent incident highlighted the need to make sure volunteer auxiliary members are thoroughly trained and properly assigned, both for their own safety and for the good of our citizens.”